One of the leading crypto mining firms – Marathon Digital – mined a record 2,195 BTC during the year’s first quarter and increased its holdings to 11,466 bitcoin (equivalent to over $321 million at current prices).
The positive result at the start of the year contrast with the performance from 2022. The company’s mining capacity was crippled due to a massive storm last summer, while its multi-million exposure to the troubled data center – Compute North – caused additional problems.
The ‘Notable Progress’
Fred Thiel – Chairman and CEO of the organization – said Q1 was the most successful one, with a record 2,195 BTC produced. In comparison, Marathon mined 1,259 BTC in Q1 last year and 1,562 BTC during the last quarter of 2022.
This helped the company boost its hash rate to 11.5 exahashes (a 64% increase compared to the 7.0 exahashes at the end of last year). The firm’s goal is to reach 23 exahashes by the middle of 2023 by deploying its previously purchased mining equipment:
“During the first quarter of 2023, we made notable progress executing our two primary initiatives for the year, which are to energize our previously purchased mining rigs to reach our target of 23 exahashes by the middle of this year and to optimize our performance so that we are both more effective and more efficient.” – Thiel added.
March was a solid month for Marathon, during which it mined nearly 40% of its entire quarterly load (825 BTC). In addition to its operational progress, the entity improved its financial position. It reduced its debt by $50 million and increased its unrestricted bitcoin holdings by 3,132 BTC after terminating its credit facilities with Silvergate Bank.
Marathon finished Q1 with approximately $124.9 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and 11,466 bitcoin. The stash’s current market value is worth nearly $321 million.
Some Turbulence in 2022
A severe storm that passed through the state of Montana last summer crippled 75% of Marathon’s total mining fleet, causing a decline in production levels.
“Bringing miners fully back online will take time, and we are committed to doing everything we can to rebuild our hash rate and to improve our bitcoin production… Separate from this event, construction and installations in Texas have continued as scheduled, and given the current macro environment, our pipeline of potential new hosting arrangements remains strong,” CEO Thield said at the time.
Marathon restored the normal course of operations in the following months before coming upon another problem – the $80 million exposure to Compute North. While the latter installed and hosted over 68,000 of Marathon’s BTC mining machines in Texas, it could not turn on 40,000 of them due to regulatory issues.
To cope with the increased expenses in 2022, the miner scrapped its HODL strategy and sold 1,500 BTC in January. The last time it parted with some of its possessions was in October 2020.
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